An Annotated Bibliography of Running Literature 1975-2016
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An Annotated Bibliography of Running Literature 1975-2016 ------------------------- A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Letters Hokkaido University -------------------------- In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master Degree of Fine Arts English -------------------------- by Kei Kunikane January 10, 2017 Table of Contents I. Japanese Abstract iii II. Introduction 1 III. Annotated Bibliography 11 IV. Indexes A: Athletes 174 B: Athletic Organizations 178 C: Major Competitions 179 D: Injuries 181 E: Training Methods 182 F: Physiology and Symptoms Common for Athletes 183 V. Appendixes A: Athletes 184 B: Athletic Organizations 197 C: Major Competitions 199 D: Injuries 205 E: Training Methods 206 F: Physiology and Symptoms Common for Athletes 208 ii I. 1975 2016 10 Guide to British Track and Field Literature 1275-1968 (Athletics Arena, London, 1969) An Annotated Bibliography of Track and Field Books Published in the United States Between 1960-1974 (San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, 1975) 1975 2016 43 1975 1979 2 1980 2 1990 6 2000 2016 33 2000 1970 16 70 Frank Shorter Bill Rodgers Alberto Salazar 1990 37 28 2000 43 iii II. Introduction This project covers novels, essays, biographies and autobiographies on all running events—track and field, cross-country, (ultra) marathon—published in the United States with the aim of cultivating the relatively undeveloped study of the genre for its further enhancement, but also in hopes of becoming a useful resource for those who wish to study running literature. The coverage of this project ranges from 1975 to October 2016. Only two annotated bibliographies exist: Guide to British Track and Field Literature 1275-1968 (Athletics Arena, London, 1969), the first British bibliography on track and field, and An Annotated Bibliography of Track and Field Books Published in the United States Between 1960-1974 (San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, 1975). These bibliographies not only include track and field events but also cross-country and marathon. In the latter bibliography, Ray Morrison, its author, says that the vast majority of British books are included in the Guide to British Track and Field Literature 1275-1968. Since his own bibliography deals with American publications between 1960-1974, my study deals with publications from 1975 to the present. In this bibliography, 43 works have been collected using multiple online databases—ABSEES, Amazon, Book Review Digest Plus, Goodreads, MLAIB online, Times Literary Supplement, Webcat—with a combination of keywords such as “cross-country”, “distance runner”, “distance”, “endurance sport”, “endurance”, “literature in track and field”, “long distance runner”, 1 “marathoner”, “marathon”, “runner”, “running in literature”, “running literature”, “running”, “run”, “sprinter”, “sprint”, “stride”, “track and field”, “track”, “trod”, “ultramarathoner”, “ultramarathon” . These works are placed in chronological order so that readers can know the varying interest in each event during each era. Each work collected in this bibliography is fully annotated, and the annotations are intended to provide useful information to those who study this field. An index of athletes, athletic organizations, major competitions, injuries, training methods, and physiology and symptoms common for athletes is given at the end. The breakdown of kinds of events is as follows: 10 works on sprinting, 6 works on middle distance, 9 works on long distance, 9 works on marathon, 5 works on ultramarathon and 4 works on cross-country. The breakdown of the genres is the following: 7 novels, 5 essays, 13 biographies and 18 autobiographies. Two novels were published from 1975 to 1979, one on middle distance and the other on marathon. In the 1980s, 2 works were published: an autobiography on middle distance and an essay on long distance. In the 1990s, 6 works were published: 3 works on sprint, 1 work on middle distance, 2 works on long distance (3 novels, 2 biographies and 1 autobiography). Works published from 2000 to 2016 are classified as follows: 6 works on sprint, 3 works on middle distance, 6 works on long distance, 8 works on marathon, 6 works on ultramarathon, 4 works on cross-country, and 16 autobiographies, 11 biographies, 2 novels, and 4 essays. Among these works, some tendencies such as the number of works, genre, 2 events, contents and author’s and protagonist’s sex can be seen, and these trends are mentioned with sociological aspects. The number of works of running literature seems to be related to the running boom in the 1970s, when people around the world took up running. When looking at the number of participants in the New York Marathon, first held in 1970 and now known as a Major World Marathon, the total number of participants has been increasing, particularly the number of women.1 Although the running boom happened in 1970s and the interest in running has been growing, their influence was not immediately reflected in the number of works on running. From 1975 to 1979, the only two works, one on middle distance and the other on the marathon, appeared. While one of the two works is a suspense novel and does not take running as a serious theme, the names of some world famous marathoners such as Abebe Bikila and Paavo Nurumi appear in the work. For example, in a website article the Guardian refers to Abebe Bikila’s victory in the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon as one of fifty stunning Olympic achievements, “Bikila Runs Barefoot into History.” Bikila, who was unknown and not recognized as a strong runner, amazed the world not only by becoming the first East African to win a medal, but also because he ran the race barefoot. Their success seems to have been recognized and to have had an impact on people. 1 According to the TCS New York City Marathon, a website, which provides the statistical information on participants, in 1975, 24,863 runners (22,649 men and 2,214 women), in 1980s 170,932 runners (143,027 men and 27,905 women), in 1990s 282,420 runners (214,079 men and 68,341 women), in 2010 to current 1,070,784 (764,609 men and 306,175 women) has participated in the marathon. 3 An autobiography and essay first appeared in the 1980s, and during this decade, interest in distance running increased. The first autobiography, In Quest of Gold: The Jim Ryun Story by Jim Ryun, appeared at this time. When turning to the 1990s, the publications show different traits. Not only do the publications on running literature triple, but works on sprinting first appeared in running literature. One curious thing is that three works out of six are all about African-American sprinters. African-American athletes had never been described in running literature before. Running itself was not considered important in society, and the issue of racism was also deeply rooted at that time. Nevertheless, African-American sprinters began to be described. Their appearance in works was thought to be the result of the success of the African-American athletes such as Carl Lewis and Wilma Rudolph, the first woman to get a gold medal in the Olympic Games. A woman athlete had never been written about in over two decades, and their appearance in running literature takes a huge role in the future prospects for women athletes. Although the interest in sprints has increased, writing about middle and long-distance runners were still popular. According to USA Track & Field (USATF), the top three ranks were occupied by American and British runners at the 1980 and 1988 Olympic Games in middle and long-distance races, and their constant national strength in these events may increase the popularity of running. Another notable trait in running literature that should be given attention is the changing contents of the works. Turning to 2000 and works dealing with the 4 ultramarathon, the first one is Dean Karnazes’ Ultramarathon Man: Confession of an All-Night Runner, his autobiography. Following this, six other works on the ultramarathon were published, all autobiographies, in which the authors emphasize their difficulties and the challenges of running great distances over a span of days without any sleep. Autobiographies published before 2000 are about a famous athletes’ life, focused on their success in athletics. Those who write about the ultramarathon focus more on their spirituality: they discover the authentic value of running through running great distances, even though they may risk their lives by running over difficult terrain and in dangerous places. With the advent of the ultramarathon, the theme of the autobiographies has been changing, and a number of the works on the ultramarathon focus more on spirituality than the athletic success. From 1975 to the 1990s, the genres of running literature are limited, and in this respect the running boom and the increasing number of runners are not necessarily reflected in running literature, but the successful athletes in each decade seem to have more influence over the running literature. Turning to 2000, the number of works sextupled those of the 1990s. Following the introduction of a new event, works on ultramarathon first appeared its appearance follows after the World 100km Championships, the first major ultramarathon held in 1987. Unlike the unpopularity of running literature in the 1970s and 1980s, when only two works were published, works on the ultramarathon appeared soon after the first ultramarathon. These collected 5 ulatramarahon works are given high ratings by Amazon, GoodReads, and Runner’s World. For example, Runner’s World refers to Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run as “the most entertaining running books ever” and to Amby Burfoot’s The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life as “One of the five best books on running.” Such praise has contributed to the spreading popularity of running literature. Another factor contributing to the popularity of running literature is the recent development of social media and SNS such as Twitter and Facebook.